Yarn feed mechanism for knitting machines



March 2, 1954 M. ZIMIC ET AL YARN FEED MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filedy Dec. 28, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l TTORNEV i March 2, 1954 M. zlMlc ETAL 2,670,619

YARN FEED MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Deo. 28, 1949 2 Sheeos--Sheecl 2 n I 171:9. Z

Cave@ ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 2, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT GFI-"ICE YARN FEED MECHANISM FR KNITTING MACHINES Michael Zimio, Lake Success, and Anton Miskovsky, Deer Park, N. Y.; said Miskovsky assignor to said Zimio Application December 2s, i949, serialNo. 135,394

-rier is provided with a movable yarn guide comprising or being joined to a suitable mounting arm having yarn feeding means for bringing a strand of yarn from a supply source tothe yarn guide. The carrier is movable along a stationary trackway, or the like, usually provided in a knitting machine of the type generally known as a links and links machine'. Movement of the guide Withrespect to the carrier, as well as the 'movement of the carrier on the trackway, or its equivalent, is coordinated Aautomatically by means also movable on the trackway. The last named means preferably resembles the carrier and acts through a lost motion link member of special design. Also, in accordance with the invention, the yarn selecting mechanism on the traveling carriage of a links and links knitting machine cooperates substantially without modification with the yarn feeding mechanism of this in,- vention to move the guide with respect to the carrier, and to move the carrier to provide for feeding yarn to the knitting devices,such as latch type needles in the knitting bed orbedsof the machine.

The principal object of the present invention `=is to provide novel means for controlling the yarn guide in a knitting machine.

Another object is to provide a novel yarn guide which is movablewith respect to its carrier. A

.feature or object of the invention which is closely related to the object just stated, is to provide novel means for causing movement of the movable yarn guide with respect to its carrier.

A further object is to provide a novel carrier mechanism for a yarn guide together with an additional instrumentality in the form of a second carrier for controlling the position of the yarn guide with respect to the rst carrier.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will, of course, become apparent and immediately suggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which the invention is directed from a reading of theiollowing specification in con.- nection with the accompanying drawings, in

`which Fig. l is a view in elevation of a portionof the 2 Claims. (Cl. (i6- 126) 2 trackway for the yarn carrying mechanism of a knitting machine having an illustrative embodiment of the yarn carrying control mechanism of this invention thereon;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l.;

Fig. 3 is a view in plan of the mechanism of Fig. l;

Fig. l is a fragmentary showing of the mechanism of Fig. l as viewed from the rear;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6 to 8 are views similar to Fig. 1 showing successive stages in operation of the illustrative form of mechanism.

The yarn guide together with the mechanism for controlling and moving it, embodying this in- ,.vention, is to be employed in a knitting machine of the type, for example, known as the links and links machine which includes a needle bed or beds 'l and 8, and a vcarriage (not shown), which reciprocates over these beds. The carriage includes a lock orcam mechanism for actuating the needles 9 in the bed or beds in sequence to 'form stitches in the yarn which is fed to the needles along with and under control of the carriage. Only a fragment Ill of the carriage appears in the drawing. inasmuch as knitting machines of this general type are by now well known, the mechanism of the knitting machine has been omitted for the sake of simplicity. The knitting machine usually includes one or more trackway bars I2, one of which appears in the drawing. These trackway bars are supported in any suitable manner so that they lie above. the needle beds 'l and 3 of the knitting machine. In the illustrative example only one trackway bar I2 is shown. However, where a plurality of these `bars are employed, they are spaced horizontally and the yarn guides are oiset laterally from their carriers to insure that the yarn is fed to the needles intheir active position. The trackway bar l2, as shown in Fig'. 2, has two projections i4 and I6 which extend longitudinally of the bar.

-Reference ,character I8 designates, in its entirety, the carrier for the yarn guide I9 of the inventio'n.. vThe carrier I8 is provided with a recess `2l, the top portion 22 of Which-is of a shape in outline tov t over a dovetail portion of a trackway bar such'as the portion I4. A membervzll is slidablyy mounted on the body of the carrier I8 .and it is provided with a surface 25 which presses `upwardly against the bottom of the projection I4. A flat spring 28 secured to the body of the carrier I8 presses the member2l upwardly so that the `carrier I 8, .while it-issslidablepn the projection I4, is friotionally held in position unless it is moved positively by a yarn selecting instrumentality, a part of which, namely, the nger 3|, appears on the drawing. It will be understood that the vertical position of the finger 3| is controllable by suitable mechanism associated with the carriage so that it may be raised or lowered to provide for engagement with the carrier I8 or an additional sliding member 33 which resembles, somewhat, the carrier I8.

The yarn guide I9 is carried by a mounting 34 which is in the form of an oiset arm. The degree of offset will be determined by the placement of the trackway bar laterally with respect to the active position of the needles. This mounting is pivoted at 39 on the carrier I8. Its range of movement is defined by inclined surfaces 4| and 42, and vertical surfaces 44 and 45. These surfaces determine the range oi 4swinging movement `of the mounting 34 on the carrier I8. A spring 49 urges mounting 34 in a clock-wise direction as viewed on the drawing.

The additional sliding member 33, referred to above, is provided with a recess 38 having a sloping top surface 49. Like the carrier I8 it is provided with a member 52 slidably mounted in its body portion and having a t-op sloping edge t. A spring 56 urges the member 52 upwardly so that the slidable member 33 will be frictlonally held in position on the elongated dovetail projection I4.

The slidable member 33 has a projecting post 58 secured to it which is grooved as indicated at 59 to receive the slot 32 in a link member 64. One side of the slot 52 is interrupted at points 63 and 61 so that the link 64 may be readily engaged with andrdisengaged from the groove 59 on the projection 58. The point 61 is adjustable since it is at the endof a slider which can be clamped von the bar 64 at a selected point. The slot 32 continues between the bar 65 and the arm on the slider 1li. The link member 63' is pivotally connected as indicated at 58 to the extending end 69 of the mounting 34 for the yarn guide I 9.

In the position of theY part illustrated by Fig.

, 1 ofthe drawing, the slidable member 33 is p0- sitioned to the left of its range of travel on the dovetail portion I4 of the trackway bar I2. The spring 55 acting on the slidable member 52 maintains the entire sliding member 33 in position because of its frictional engagement with the trackway bar extension. The carrier I 8 is positioned on the dovetan extension I 4, as shown. and it is retained in this position also by frictional engagement caused by pressure of the slidable member 24 which is acted upon by the spring 28. The yarn guide I 9 is, therefore, in

van elevated position inasmuchv as the mounting 34 is tilted about its pivot 36. The carriage (fragmentarily shown) of the knitting machine is as sumed to be at the left hand end of its range of travel and as it moves toward the right, as viewed on the drawing, the finger 3|, 0r an equivalent member, on the carriage engages the edge 1I of an upwardly projecting portion 12 of the slidable member 33. This member 33 is propelled to the right until the ringer 3| engages the upwardly sloping cam surface 1liv which is formed on a finger This iinger 15 is pivoted on the extension 18 of a block 19 which is grooved as indicated at 82 so that it may be clamped to the dovetail I 4 by means of a thumb screw or machine bolt 85. As seen in Fig. l, the nger 15 is urged inwardly toward the bar I2 by means of a flat spring 86. As stated previously, when the nger 3| encounters the cam surface 14, it rides upwardly so that it releases the edge 1I of the projection 12. It will be noted that the member 58 which projects from the slidable member 33 has been moved a distance substantially equal to the total length of the slot 62 in the link 54. The rst part of the movement of the slidable member 33, prior to its release, permits the link 64 to move to the right thereby lowering the guide I9 to its active position. At thisk stage, the parts are in the position of Fig. 6 of the drawing.

As the finger 3| proceeds toward the right, it engages the edge 39 of the projection 9| on the carrier I8, as shown in Fig. 7. The carrier I8 is thereby moved to the right, the slot |52 permitting this movement without causing the mounting 34 to pivot with respect to the carrier I8 until the finger encounters the cam surface 93 of a second cam raising nger 94. At this time the parts are in the position shown by Fig. 8 of the drawing.

From this point the carriage and the associated nger 3| move to the right to complete such other knitting operation as provides the eld or background for the stitches supplied by the yarn guide I9 until it reaches the extreme limit of travel to the right, which may, in some instances, be beyond the right hand edge of the fabric which is being knitted.

The carriage next begins its return stroke and when the nger 3| encounters the finger 94 this finger moves aside on its pivot 93. Prior to this, however, 3| has engagedv the edge IDI of the projection 9| to move the carrier I8 until the nger i encounters the sloping edge |04 of a nger |08. The finger I 36 is carriedby a member IIB which is similar to the member 19. The carrier I8 comes to rest substantially in the position shown by Fig. and as the iinger 3| proceeds to the left, it engages the right edge I 08 of the projection 12 to move the slidable member 33 back to its position originally occupied, shown in Fig. l. When the slidable member 33 has reached this position, the nger 3| encounters the sloping end ||2 of the finger I|4. The finger IM is carried by a member ||8 which is similarl to the member 19. The carriage then proceeds to the left hand edge of the machine. This cycle of 0perations is repeated in operation of the knitting machine in accordance with this invention.

In accordance with one possible method of operation of a knitting machine equipped with the yarn guide of this invention, the field or background of the fabric to be produced is knitted from a continuous yarn in any usual and known manner. This yarn may be held back by selected needles (not shown as not directly concerned in an understanding of this invention) while the yarn fed by the guide I9 is laid in on another selected set of needles (also not shown). The movement of these needles is controlled by the carriage travel and the proper s et up of the jacks (not shown) which position the needles under control of the carriage lock or cam mechanism.

When the fabric pattern calls for an inset or a special section after the plain sectionl or iield has been knitted, the pins on the carriage will be projected to pick up the yarn carrier I8 for the v 5 and the inset. The foregoing is given only by way of example as a possible mode of operation of the invention and is not to be interpreted as restrictive.

Having now described the invention, What is claimed is:

1. A yarn feeding mechanism for a knitting machine comprising a block member having a recess therein to be received on the trackway of a knitting machine, a pivot on said block member, .an arm having a yarn guide, said arm being pivotally mounted on said pivot, an extension on said arm, a link pivoted to said extension, a second block having a recess to be received on the trackway of a knitting machine, a projection on said second block, an elongated slot in said link engaged With said projection to provide a lost motion connection between said link and said projection, a tension spring pivotally connected between said link and said rst block member whereby said arm is biased for rotation in one direction, and means comprising a friction shoe and a spring on both said rst named block and said second named block for frictionally positioning said blocks on a trackway of a knitting machine.

2. A yarn feeding mechanism for a knitting machine comprising a block member having a recess therein to be received on the trackway of a knitting machine, a pivot on said block member, an arm having a yarn guide, said arm being pivotally mounted on said pivot, an extension on said arm, a link pivoted to said extension, a second block having a recess to be received on the trackway of a knitting machine, a projection on said second block, an elongated slot of adjustable length in said link engaged with said projection to provide a lost motion connection between said link and said projection, a tension spring pivotally connected between said link and said first block member whereby said arm is biased for rotation in one direction.

MICHAEL ZIMIC.

ANTON MISKOVSKY.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 280,886 Ward July 10, 1883 507,929 Pringle Oct. 31, 1893 1,857,737 Nebich May 10, 1932 2,139,790 Zimio Dec.` 13, 1938 2,399,729 Fregeolle May 7, 1946 2,509,032 Buchanan May 23, 1950 2,528,389 Saunders Oct. 3l, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 429,663 Germany May 31, 1936 

